Rail and railway.



J. WISSLER.

RAIL AND RAILWAY. APPLICATION IEILED JULY 12, 1907.

Patented Dec. 1, 1908.

JACOB WISSLER, OF LYNDHURST, VIRGINIA.

RAIL AND RAILWAY.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 1, 1908.

Application filed July 12, 1907. Serial No. 383,424.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JACOB WIssLER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Lyndhurst, in the county of Augusta and State of Virginia, have invented'certain new and useful Improvements in Rails and Railways, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to means for safeguarding railway travel against the common defect of a broken or cracked rail, the object .of the invention being to provide a simple protective rovision whereby the rails of railways will be held together in the event of a break occurring at any point thereof and serve the purpose of travel, notwithstanding the presence of a break, until proper repairs are made, thereby avoiding the many accidents due to the breakin or cracking of the rails now universally usecI.

To this end the invention consists in providing the rails of railways with a metal side strip or strips adapted to unite so as to extend the entire length of a track, and to so combine said strip or strips with the rails as to maintain them substantially free from the strain placed upon the rails under normal condition.

The invention further consists in certain other novel features in the construction and combination of parts, all as hereinafter described, and specifically pointed out in the ap ended claims.

n the accompanying drawings, illustrating the invention, Figure 1, is a view in side elevation showing the application of the invention and the manner of its cooperation with the splice bar of a rail joint. Fig. 2, is a perspective view of a section of a rail equipped in accordance with the invention. Fig. 3, is an enlarged cross section taken on the line rr of Fig. 1. Fig. 4, is a perspective view showing a modified form in the application of the perspective strip of the invention.

Referring to the drawings, 1 and 2 indicate two rails of the commonly used t pe, which are shown connected by the s ice bar 3,

bolted as usual to the web 4 of t e rails, and bearing upon the rail head 5 and the base flange 6.

On one side of the web 4, preferably the outer side, is secured the metal protecting strip 7 which extends substantial y the entire length of the rail and by overlapping the splice bar 3 at each end and being fastened by one or more of the splice bar bolts, as

always intact and ready for its shown, forms with the splice bar as a uniting means, a continuous protective strip for the rails for the entire length of track.

The rotective strip 7 is in spaced relation to the ead and base of the rail so as to perform no supporting function and be substantially free from any of the shocks or strains to which the rail is subjected, and to further provide against these normal shocks and strains coming upon the strip 7. The rivets or bolts 8, which secure it to the rail web pass through holes 9 of a size that will admit of movement of a rivet in any direction in the vertical plane, causing the strip to be held by a binding frictionon the web and such loose support as the rivets or bolts may find on the web, which supporting of the protective strip is sufficiently yieldable to prevent it from becoming a rigid part of the rail. The result desired may also be secured by welding the stri upon the rail when the strip is formed 0 a wrought iron or other tough metal not liable to crack.

In Fig. 4 a modification is shown in the application of the strip 7 to the rail so as to provide for the extension of the strip beyond one end of the rail so as to overla a joint and be secured directly to the strip 0 an adjacent rail, in which form of the invention the ordinary splice bar can be used over the strip. It will thus be seen that by the employment of the invention the rails for the entire length of track are provided with a continuous protective strip of which preferably the joint splice bar becomes an element, and that by reason of the provision for relieving the strip from sharing the strain of the rails under normal conditions, it remains rotective service at any point should a brea occur.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In a railway, the combination with each rail section, of a strip extending longitudinally thereof, and means for positively connecting said strips at their adjoining ends independently of the connection of the rails, as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In a railway, the combination with each rail section, of a strip extending longitudinally thereof and yieldably supported thereon, and means for connecting positively said strips at their adjoining ends independently of connection of the rails, as and for the purpose set forth.

3. A railway rail having a strip longitudinally combined therewith adapted to unite at each end with a similarstrip of adjoining rails, said strip being secured to the rails by bolts, and having bolt holes of a size to admit of movement of the strip relatively to the rail, substantially as described and for the purpose set forth.

4. In a railway, the combination with each rail section, of a side strip extending longitudinally thereof, and means for positively connecting said strips at their adjoining ends independently of connection of the rails, as and for the purpose set forth.

5. In a railway, the combination with 15 each rail section, of a side strip supported thereon in spaced relation to the rail head" and extending longitudinally of said rail section, and means for positively connecting said strips at their adjoining ends independently of connection of the rails, as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

JACOB WISSLER.

Witnesses:

E. EDMoNsToN, Jr., INEZ A. HARVEY. 

